Taylor County area

Taylor County, Texas covers 919.3 square miles: 915.5 square miles of land and 3.768 square miles of water. Its county seat is Abilene. An estimated 150,077 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 484412026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area915.5 mi²
Water area3.768 mi²
Population (2025)150,077
People per mi²164

County outline

Generalized outline of Taylor County, Texas
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Taylor County is located

Taylor County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.6% of Taylor County’s measured area and water for 0.4%. Its combined area converts to 2,381 square kilometers or approximately 588,355 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land915.5362,371.227585,943
Water3.7689.7592,411.5
Total919.3042,380.986588,354.6

How Taylor County compares

By original Census land area, Taylor County ranks #114 of 254 in Texas and #804 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.008 times the Texas county-equivalent median of 908.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.4% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Texas ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Taylor County

The Census Bureau estimates that 150,077 people lived in Taylor County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #467 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #35 of 254 in Texas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 143,233, the population has grown by 6,844 (+4.8%), compared with +8.8% for Texas as a whole.

With 915.5 square miles of land, that is 164 people per square mile (63 per km²), placing Taylor County #731 nationally for density and #39 in Texas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Texas median is 22. Put another way, there are about 3.9 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate143,484143,943145,346147,254148,390150,077
Change—+459+1,403+1,908+1,136+1,687

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Taylor County

8 incorporated places lie at least partly in Taylor County. Together they are home to 131,743 people (87.8%); the other 18,334 (12.2%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Abilene city, with 125,818 residents in the county (the city extends into 1 other county). Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Tye city grew fastest since then (+7.3%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Abilene cityCounty seat · Also in 1 other county125,818+5.3%106.7
Merkel town2,496+0.1%2.798
Tye city1,264+7.3%4.814
Tuscola city851+0.1%0.854
Buffalo Gap town684+25.3%2.44
Lawn town313+1%0.597
Trent town299+1%0.404
Impact town180%0.087

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Taylor County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Taylor County is a central county of the Abilene, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 3 county equivalents have 185,429 residents on 2,743.5 square miles of land; Taylor County accounts for 33.4% of the land and 80.9% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #111 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #248 by population. It belongs to the Abilene-Sweetwater, TX Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Taylor County150,077915.5
Jones County20,861928.6
Callahan County14,491899.4

ZIP codes

17 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Taylor County; 13 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

7950879519795307953679541795617956279563795667956779601796027960379605796067960779699

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Taylor County

Taylor County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents. It has more land than 2 of them. The largest neighbor is Coleman County (1,263 mi²) and the smallest is Callahan County (899.4 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Taylor County forms a block of 5,969.6 mi² of land, of which it holds 15.3%.

Map of Taylor County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Nolan County, Texas: 912 mi² landCallahan County, Texas: 899.4 mi² landJones County, Texas: 928.6 mi² landRunnels County, Texas: 1,051.1 mi² landColeman County, Texas: 1,263 mi² land
Taylor County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. TaylorCompare
Coleman County1,2631.4× largerCompare
Runnels County1,051.11.1× largerCompare
Jones County928.6about the sameCompare
Nolan County912about the sameCompare
Callahan County899.4about the sameCompare

How big is Taylor County compared with U.S. states?

Taylor County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.1 times as much. Texas’s county land could hold about 285 areas the size of Taylor County.

Land area: Taylor County and the closest-sized states
Taylor County915.5 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 30.3 miles (48.7 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Taylor County?

Taylor County has more land than 2,418 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Taylor County915.5 mi²
Texas median908.7 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Taylor County at #905 nationally by total area, 101 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.8 percentage points lower. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Taylor County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#803Stonewall County, Texas916.3Compare
#804Taylor County, Texas915.5This county
#805Alger County, Michigan915Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 32.297126, -99.890430. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 2,371,228,264 m²; AWATER: 9,760,311 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Taylor County?

Taylor County, Texas has 915.5 square miles (2,371.2 km²) of land and 3.768 square miles of water, for a total area of 919.3 square miles. It ranks #804 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Taylor County the largest county in Texas?

No. Taylor County ranks #114 of 254 in Texas by land area. The largest is Brewster County, with 6,183.8 square miles of land.

What counties border Taylor County?

Taylor County shares a land border with Nolan County, Callahan County, Jones County, Runnels County, and Coleman County.

What is the population of Taylor County?

The Census Bureau estimates Taylor County had 150,077 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #467 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 164 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Taylor County?

The county seat of Taylor County is Abilene.

What cities and towns are in Taylor County?

Taylor County has 8 incorporated places. The most populous five are Abilene city, Merkel town, Tye city, Tuscola city, and Buffalo Gap town; 18,334 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Taylor County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the Abilene, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 3 county equivalents and 185,429 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Taylor County?

17 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Taylor County, and 13 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Taylor County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.1 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Taylor County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 585,943 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 588,355 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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